Chair slat assembly



y 1957 G. M. BIRD CHAIR SLAT ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 6, 1954 a F. m

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"FIGZ United States Patent O CHAIR SLATASSEMBLY George M'. Bird, Dougherty, Ga. Application August 6, 1954, Serial No. 448,177 1 Claim. (31. 155-478 The present invention relates generally to furniture and specifically to an assembly of slats for chair seats and backs, and is especially applicable for lawn and yard chairs, camping stools, cots, hammocks and other articles of furniture which receive relatively hard usage and are too often constructed of non-resilient materials.

Some materials used for furniture of this type are webbing, slats and ropes, cane, canvas panels, and others. A chair seat or back which conforms to the spinal curvature is difficult to construct of such materials, and therefore such chairs are uncomfortable and of little help toward relaxation in camps and at sports events, where hard exercise is the rule rather than the exception and comfort is desired.

The present invention briefly described is a slat assembly for use on chair seats and backs primarily and may be used for any area between frame ends and edges where a person might sit or rest.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a durable seat material which is contour following and comfortable to persons of any weights.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a seat material which is weather-proof and may be made of materials durable in themselves and non-resilient but in their assembly forms a resilient seat.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel method of assembly of strands and slats in a manner which permits areas of the seat to be depressed without the slats separating and without creating appreciable cracks between individual slats which commonly have a tendency to pinch as the weight is removed. A still further object of the invention is to provide a seat material which in assembled condition resembles a nearly solid seat and yet is made of relatively short and numerous parts, and one which is inexpensive to construct and maintain and may be assembled without the use of tools and by inexperienced persons; providing a seat which may be manufactured in kit form along with chair frame members, rockers, sides and backs as is desired.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the annexed drawings, in which;

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the general appearance of a chair of the folding type using the material of this invention on the seat and back,

Figure 2 is a detailed View in elevation of a single slat member of the present invention,

Figure 3 is a vertical view showing the slats in partial condition of assembly, and

Figure 4 is a side view of a portion of a seat as assembled.

Referring in greater detail to the drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, it will be seen that the invention consists of two elements, strand members and slat members 11, and as as shown are assembled in a flat seat 12 and a flat chair back 13 for a folding chair 14.

2,798,537 Patented July' 9, 1957 The strand members 10 may be of coiledhard'steel wire, nylon, rubber, or any material'whieh is' desired for the particular use. Itisto be understood that the material of the strand members should be semi-resilient or 1 side towards the side edge and located at the'rnidlength of the hole 16. The width of the slotted holes "15 and 16 is greater than the diameter of the strand members 10 and the width of the recess 17 is slightly less.

The strand members 10 are secured by their ends in longitudinal arrangement and are taut between the frame parts of the chair 14, with the slat members 11 assembled on them in confronting face to face relation with each other, the strand member 10 in an end hole 15 being received in the center hole 16 of the next adjacent slat member. All across the seat, the slat members are end to end, and either half-members complete the edge (not shown) or the edges of the seat merely omit the half and leave a void between complete rows, the seat edges being also bound or secured to the side of the seat frame in any conventional manner.

The strand members are spaced so that normally they go through all the holes 15 near the outer end and transverse the center hole 16 at about its midlength, so that when the seat assembly is sat on, or bent concavely, the strand member where it crosses the center hole may go into the recess on the upper concave or seat side, and far enough into the recess to bind slightly so that the slat member cannot move on the strand member, thus preventing opening up to form cracks.

Thusly, the slat members retain their positions on the strand members when the strands stretch under weight, and with the slats formed of relatively short pieces, the seat is resilient in both longitudinal and lateral directions, yet is apparently and for all purposes solid with little or no space between adjacent slat members. This gives the chair or cot a finished look and one which is attractive, and the combinations of color that are possible if the slat members are of plastic or anodized aluminum are infinite, with the slat members forming patterns as desired.

In the case of the folding chair 14, the seat portion 20 is pivoted to the back frame portion 21 by a hinge bar 22 about which the seat portion may pivot to folded position against the back frame portion, the slat assembly bending about the hinge bar 22 to folded position, with the ends of the strands secured at one end to the front side 23 of the seat portion 20 at their other end to the top side 24 of the back frame portion 24.

Obviously, the strands 10 may extend transversely of the seat portion and back frame portion, in. which case the hinge bar 22 may be of a diameter to pass through the holes 15 and 16 of the slats 11, and the seat and slat assembly would likewise bend thereabout.

While a single embodiment of the present invention is here illustrated and described other embodiments may be made and practiced within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

A flexible slat assembly for chair seats, backs, hammocks and the like comprising a series of longitudinal strand members secured at their ends to opposite sides of a chair seat or back frame for support thereon, said slat members having a greater length than width and formed with a slottedhole at each end and with another centrally thereof, said holes being disposed transversely to the longitudinal axis of said slat members and extending from one face thereof to the other, each of said slat members being formed with a recess on each side of its centerhole and opening thereinto midlength thereof, said holes having a width greater than the diameter of said strand members and said recesses having a width slightly less than said diameters, said slat members being strung in end to end relation on said strand members in confronting face to face relation to each other with confronting faces in overlapping relation and with a strand member received in the end hole of one and in the center hole of the next adjacent,

1 said slat members being disposed on said strand members with the strand members normally disposed centrally in each center hole and at the outer ends of said end holes whereby when an area of the slat assembly is concavely deformed strand members in the center holes each enter the one associated recess toward the concave side of the assembly and is releasably gripped therein for restraint of movement of that slat member longitudinally with respect to said strand. member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 613,582 'Lund Nov. 1, 1898 1,050,584 Wilkens Jan. 14, 1913 1,276,865 Bosworth Aug. 27, 1918 1,448,907 Bell Mar. 20, 1923 1,464,026 Bruninga Aug. 7, 1923 1,797,813 Williams et a1 Mar. 24, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS 15,981 Austria Apr. 25, 1904 323,185 Great Britain Dec. 23, 1929 

